A large and growing population of users enjoys entertainment through the consumption of media items, including electronic media, such as electronic books (also referred to herein as ebooks), electronic newspapers, electronic magazines, and other electronic reading material. Users employ various electronic devices to consume such publications. Among these electronic devices are electronic book readers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable media players, tablet computers, electronic pads, netbooks, desktop computers, notebook computers, and the like.
Certain electronic media items, such as electronic publications including ebooks, may have a table of contents (TOC) which provides information regarding the content and layout of the electronic publication. Some electronic media items may have a text based table of contents (e.g., the table of contents is pure text). Other electronic media items may have a linked table of contents (e.g., the table of contents includes HyperText Markup Language (HTML) links). Still other electronic media items may not have any table of contents information.
In addition, different types of electronic media items may allow for different types or styles of navigation through the electronic media item. For example, some electronic media items only allow for page by page navigation (e.g., a user cannot navigate or jump to a specific section of the electronic media item). Other electronic media items may allow a user to navigate to a specification section of the electronic media item, but only from the table of contents for the electronic media item. Still other electronic media items may use a navigation structure based on a Navigation Control File for XML (NCX file). An NCX file may allow for different styles of navigation, depending on the electronic device. For example, a user may navigate page by page using a left and right buttons, or using swipe gestures on a touch screen. In another example, the user may also navigate chapter by chapter by using up and down buttons. In a further example, the user may navigate to any section of the electronic media item from any location in the electronic media item. An NCX file may also contain a table of contents for the electronic media item.
When electronic devices present electronic media items (e.g., ebooks) to a user, the presentation of the electronic media items may be inconsistent or sub-optimal, due to the inconsistencies in the table of contents and navigation styles for the electronic media items. This results in an inconsistent or sub-optimal user experience when the user views and navigates through the first and second electronic media items.